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Topic: Garou Tongue & Forms (Read 1745 times)

Garou who have completed their Rite of Passage can converse with each other in a variety of ways. Homids, of course, know at least one of the languages of the human world, if not more. Lupus can communicate very simply when they are in wolf form, often by using a great deal of body language. Each breed can learn the other's language, but conversation can be difficult. Lupus rarely communicate concepts that use more than a handful of verbs and nouns, while homids find it frustrating to limit their speech while in a wolfs skin. Even homid Garou from distant lands have difficulty speaking with each other.

Fortunately, the Garou themselves have developed a separate language over thousands of years to bridge the gap. Galliards know this worldwide language as the "High Tongue" or "Garou Tongue." Most claim that the Fianna conceived it first. Bone Gnawer Ragabash, on the other hand, describe its lofty tones as "High-Falutin'," and unfortunately, this name has stuck as well. All Garou are taught the High Tongue immediately following their Rite of Passage, although differences in regional accent and dialect do come up. Garou language depends as much on body language and tone as on actual words. Much of it is instinctive, accented by pheromones, growls and whines. A few spoken words cannot be reproduced by a human or wolf throat, as they require partial transformation to articulate. These words represent some of the loftiest concepts tied to Garou culture.

Of course, some lupus never really master this language. They prefer to speak as simply and plainly as wolves do. For the record, Garou in Lupus or Hispo form (halfway between Lupus and Crinos) may communicate freely with wolves. This same "lupine language" can be used in other forms, but a greater chance of misunderstanding arises. While the formal and complex Garou High Tongue requires training, any werewolf in Lupus form can speak in "lupine" instinctively. The first time a homid or metis shapeshifts into a wolf, he can communicate with other wolves.

The Forms of The Garou.

Homid: The Human.

The natural form for Homid breed Garou and the form in which they feel most comfortable, Homid form is essentially a human being, the Homid form allows Garou to move through man’s world more or less unseen. Metis and lupus Garou still possess their regenerative abilities and their vulnerability to silver in this form, while Homid Garou do not; for them, silver feels uncomfortable, and wounds heal with surprising quickness, but the obviously uncanny effects remain absent. Aside from possible scars or body art, a Homid form werewolf appears to be a typical person. Even so, this thin disguise still betrays the predatory Beast underneath if you dare to look close enough; as Homid-form werewolves still trigger the Curse in normal humans.

Spoiler for Stats:

Strength +0Dexterity +0.Stamina +0.Shift Difficulty: 6

Glabro: The Near-Man.

The Glabro form is bipedal, and it doesn't possess obvious fangs or claws, but the resemblance to a human being ends there. A Garou shifting from Homid to Glabro gains from 100% to 200% in body weight (all muscle) and six inches to a foot in height. Body hair becomes much more profuse, the teeth and nails elongate (although not enough to inflict any special damage), the brow slopes, the werewolf’s posture hunches with predatory intent, and the character looks huge and menacing. They become stronger and more resilient than Homid, but the Glabro form is still just a shadow of the werewolf’s true killing power.

Werewolves in Glabro can speak the Garou tongue and manage human language without too much trouble. Human speech, however, has a guttural rasp to it; any human speech in the Glabro form is usually spoken in primal and minimalistic grunts (ex. "There are two people over there" would likely translate to roughly "Two people there." in a very harsh tone, of course). While Garou can use this form to interact with human society, they typically don't. The Glabro form is too crude and too easy to remember.

Affectionately known as the "nine-foot snarling death-beast" form, a werewolf in Crinos wants to do only one thing — kill. The natural form of all Metis breed Garou, the Crinos is not a form for deliberation, even with other werewolves.

Shifting from Glabro to Crinos, the Garou grows in height by half and gains another 100% to 200% in weight. The head changes to a wolfs maw, and the fangs and claws are now fully grown. The arms become long and apelike, and the werewolf can move either on two legs or all fours. The Garou also grows a tail, which helps with balance.

Werewolf fur usually favors the striped or mottled markings of normal wolves, combined with the hair color (and sometimes even style) of a Garou’s Homid form, though this is not always the case. Tribal identity is most obvious in Crinos form, where the features, fur color and body language often reveal the differences between a Bone Gnawer, a Silver Fang, a Black Fury, and a Wendigo.

Many Garou decorate themselves with dedicated jewelry and other markings that symbolize their tribal pride. Crinos is not a form for casual contact. Even the Metis, who are born in this shape, bristle with murderous fury when this war-wolf manifests.

A werewolf in the war form may speak the Garou tongue perfectly well, and he may converse with wolves crudely. Human speech is reduced to one or two words at a time (favorite phrases include "Wyrm!" and "Kill them!"). Expressing anything more complex requires the expenditure of a Willpower point.

It is also worth noting that this form induces Delirium within mortals.

The Hispo resembles a normal wolf in the same way that the Glabro resembles a common human. It can be described as a massive wolf of nightmare, a throwback to prehistoric days when the dire wolves were the size of ponies. The head and jaws are massive, even more so than the Crinos, and the bite of a Hispo inflicts an extra die of damage. The Hispo can stand on its hind legs, if necessary, but it is much more comfortable on all fours.

The Hispo form weighs nearly as much as the Crinos form, but its four-legged stance allows it to run faster. Perception difficulties decrease by one in this form. The senses are sharp, although not so keen as the Lupus. A werewolf in Hispo has no hands, so he cannot grasp objects, except in his mouth.

A werewolf in the Hispo form cannot speak, save a few words in the Garou tongue, and requires the character to spend a Willpower point to speak a word or two of vaguely-comprehendible human speech.

Spoiler for Stats:

Strength +3.Dexterity +2.Stamina +3.Manipulation -3.

+1 die to bite damage.Perception difficulties are at -1 in this form.It does not take a full action to get up from a fall in this form.Shift Difficulty:7

Lupus: The Wolf.

The natural state of lupus Garou, the pure wolf form is feral and driven by instinct. Used primarily for tracking and travel, the change from Hispo to Lupus causes the Garou to shed a great deal of muscle and body size. The jaws and claws shrink considerably — a homid or metis in Lupus can cause aggravated wounds with only a bite, and lupus in their breed form cause lethal damage. The Lupus form runs at twice human speed and it is far more perceptive. All Perception difficulties for Garou in Lupus form drop by two.

Although it can speak a garbled form of the Garou tongue, this form communicates almost totally through body language and typical wolf vocalizations. The werewolf’s tribal identity might seem obvious in the wolf’s facial features, posture and fur; all other decorations, however, disappear unless they’ve been strapped, pierced, or tattooed on the wolf itself. Apart from this, the Lupus form resembles a large normal wolf for all intents and purposes.

Beneath the skin lie many beasts. For the Garou, those beasts externalize themselves as the five forms of wolf-kind: the human guise, the primal beast-man, the war-wolf, the dire form, and the true wolf. Any Garou, regardless of her breed, can assume these five forms. In game terms, it merely takes a Stamina + Primal-Urge roll and a few successes in order to make physics and biology run screaming into the night. Transforming from one shape to another requires one success for each form your character goes through in the process. Going from Homid to Crinos, for example, takes two successes (one for Glabro, one for Crinos), while going from full human to full wolf takes four successes. The Shift Difficulty given for each form reflects the difficulty of that roll: changing to a different form from Homid is difficulty 6, while shifting from Hispo is difficulty 7. You can spend a point of Rage to change immediately otherwise a full turn is required to shift, and any Garou can shift back to her breed form instantly too. In neither case do you need to make a roll — your werewolf taps into the deepest reserves of her nature to transform. Unless they’ve been protected with the Rite of Talisman Dedication, clothes tend to be shredded, and possessions, discarded in the course of transformation. A Glabro or Crinos werewolf can certainly hang onto hand-held goodies as she shifts, but jewelry, wallets, and so forth have a nasty habit of getting left behind. With sufficient control over shapeshifting, a Garou can even transform only part of her body: grow Crinos talons in human form, or turn forepaws into hands. Partial transformation requires the expenditure of a WIllpower point and success on a Dexterity + Primal-Urge roll (difficulty 9).

The five forms are in this order, for the case of calculating successes: